


Lessons Learnt

by Elzangel



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Alternate Universe - Student/Teacher, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Illegal Activities, Teacher-Student Relationship, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-30
Updated: 2014-07-30
Packaged: 2018-02-11 02:49:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2050695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elzangel/pseuds/Elzangel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when a teacher falls for a pupil? A twist on the usual take of this genre for this couple. AU/AH pure delena Please Note: I do not condone or encourage pupil/teacher relationships, I am simply using that situation as a modern and different take on the delena relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Prologue

Damon Salvatore walked through the corridors, his bag hanging loosely by his side. The school corridors were pretty much deserted as everyone else was in class, except for the odd person here and there who gave him distained looks. They thought they knew him. Knew what had happened. Knew her. But they didn't. In fact they knew nothing. He got to the main entrance only to be met by the principal.

'Mr Salvatore, let's talk things through shall we? I think you're being rather hasty. We don't want this… unfortunate incident to affect your career now do we?' Damon turned to look at the stout man with a look of disgust etched on his face. 'Unfortunate incident', is that what he thought this was? An unfortunate incident to Damon, was your pet dog being run over, or your car being stolen; not falling in love. Granted, it hadn't been the most ideal of circumstances, but if it had of been, he'd never have met her, and that didn't bear thinking about. He shook his head at the man still standing there, hoping Damon would change his mind. He wouldn't, not this time. Not ever, where she was concerned.

"Unfortunate incident? This wasn't an unfortunate incident. I love her!" Damon glared at the older man, determined to make him see things from his point of view.

"Damon, you're not thinking rationally." Mr Kenner, the principal tried to reason.

"Yes, I am. You should be pleased I'm finally going. You said yourself I was to leave."

"A suspension, yes! Not permanently." Damon smirked.

"Well think of this as a long suspension. Bye Mr Kenner, I'd like to say it was a pleasure meeting you, but my father taught me not to lie." And with that he walked out of the school entrance, leaving a stunned Mr Kenner behind him. He glanced briefly up at the building before making his way to his car. Truth be told, he'd miss this place, but he couldn't be there; not anymore. After everything that had happened, it didn't feel right. Despite what other people thought- his father and the principal in particular- he didn't regret it. Not one single thing. Maybe that was why he'd miss the place, it held a lot of memories, and after all it was here he'd met her. Elena Gilbert. The reason his world had been turned upside down. Speaking of which, his phone started ringing, just as he'd gotten into his car and he knew instinctively it would be her, wondering how it had gone. Sure enough the caller ID read 'Babe'.

"Hey Babe, miss me?" He smirked.

"Damon, how did it go?" He rolled his eyes at her straight forwardness; it was just one of the many qualities he loved about her.

"It went as expected."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Dunno. Good I guess. I'm free of that place. We're free of that place." He heard her sigh into the phone.

"I suppose, but hurry back. I'm bored here on my own."

"Well, I'll have to do something about that then won't I?" He smirked yet again and even though she couldn't see it, she knew it was there.

"Mmm, yes you will Mr Salvatore, so hurry back." He chuckled to himself; he loved her playful side and couldn't wait to unleash it.

"Will do, I'm just leaving now." He said, putting the keys in the ignition.

"Ok, bye hun."

"Bye, sexy."

"Damon!"

"What?" He could just picture her shaking her head, her beautiful brown hair falling around her shoulders.

"Nothing. Love you."

"Love you too." With that he hung up, throwing his phone onto the passenger seat. As he pulled out of the parking lot, he couldn't help but feel that a chapter of his life had come to a close. In a way it had, but there was still so much that could happen. As he drove the journey to Elena's, he couldn't help but think about how they had gotten to the place they were currently in.

 


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It had all started several months before at the start of the new school year. Elena Gilbert made her way along the corridors, ready for her first day in her new school. To say she was nervous was an understatement. She didn't think she'd ever been this nervous in her life, which was ridiculous if she thought about it, because after all it was just starting in a new school. Despite having every right to be there she found herself tentatively knocking on the faculty lounge door. There was a shuffling as someone made their way to the door, before it opened revealing, a man in his mid-thirties with fair hair, who she recognised as Mr Saltzman, head of history.

'Elena?' She nodded. 'Come on in. No need to knock. I don't think we were expecting you this early. It's usually just me first thing. I'm Ric, we met at your interview. ' She nodded and followed him into the lounge looking around nervously at her surroundings, which consisted of a lot of chairs and a dozen or so tables, several cupboards and a sink, along with two fridges.

 'Well, I wanted to get a feel of the place first. Get settled before my first class.' Elena explained.

 'Good idea. Now make yourself at home. Cup of tea? Coffee?' He made his way over to the sink, grabbing the kettle on the way and proceeded to fill it, whilst talking to Elena.

 'Tea's fine thanks.'

 'If I remember rightly, this is your first proper teaching job, right?' She nodded, and he noticed she still looked anxious. 'Relax, it's not that bad. Have you met some of the other teachers? ' She shook her head.

 'Ah, well don't worry they're all a pretty sound bunch. Sit down. You're one of us now.' He smiled reassuringly at her, trying to make her feel at ease as she removed her coat and sat down. 'Place your things in a locker, I think that will be yours as it was the old history teacher's.' He indicated to a locker at the end of the row, situated near the sink before reaching up to the cupboard above the sink and pulled out two mugs and a bag of sugar. 'Sugar and mugs are in here, take any you like except the one that says Jeff, because that's obviously Jeff's.' She laughed.

 'And do you have a specific mug?' She indicated to the mug on the side that said world's best teacher.

 'No but I'm the only one it fits.' She laughed again, and Ric couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked. She had deep, dark, brown hair that flowed down her back and wide brown eyes to match. She looked so young and innocent that he couldn't help but take her under his wing. He continued to chat to her while making the tea.

 'Milk, Sugar?'

 'Milk, one sugar please.'

 He went over to the fridge and removed a bottle of milk 'Just help yourself to the milk, we all share here, we just put some money in a kitty each week for it and the tea and coffee.'

 'So when will the rest of the staff arrive?'

 'Not long now, it's usually me first and then a few others.'

 'So how long have you been here?'

 'Four years.' He handed her her tea, and she smiled, knowing he was trying to make her feel more comfortable, but as she had already said this was her first proper teaching post, and it would take a lot to make her feel completely at ease. She placed her tea down and stood up to place her things in her locker as she stood stuffing her coat into the rather small space masquerading as a cupboard, Ric couldn't help but take a closer look at her. She was dressed in tight fitted blue top that clung to her curves, grey trousers and the outfit was finished with a pair of black boots with a slight heel. As Ric appraised her appearance he knew that along with her age and beauty she would be the subject of many teenage boys' fantasies. She took a seat, and he followed suit handing her, her mug. 'So do you know what classes you've got today?' She ferreted in her bag before pulling out her timetable and class list and handed it to him.

 'Let's see what delightful students you've got today.' He joked, ' Ah, here we are. Tuesday. 9th Grade class A, free, 10th Grade class B, 9th Grade class C, free, 11th Grade class D, …oh. 12th Grade class C.' He looked slightly uneasy with this last group.

 'Oh? Why oh?' He looked up, to see that he'd accidentally made her even more on edge than she was already, and she'd started chewing her bottom lip.

 'Sorry, didn't mean to make you nervous. They're an alright class, but…' He continued flicking through the papers, till he found what he was looking for. 'Yeah, here we are. As I said they're an ok class. Fairly small compared to the other classes you'll teach and all hard working and manageable, except for him.' He leaned forward to show her the paper in front of him, which happened to be the class list and pointed to one name on a list of about 15.

 'Damon Salvatore? How bad can he be?' Elena looked up at him with a puzzled look, not knowing what was significant about this one name. At that moment the door opened and a middle aged man, with grey hair and glasses entered.

 'Very bad. First day back and you're already talking about the spawn of Satan. What's he done this time?' Ric shook his head at Elena in a form of apology.

 'Nothing. I was just about to tell our new history teacher, Elena here about him. Elena this is Jeff head of English.'

 'Hi.' Elena greeted him shyly and received a nod in response as Jeff busied himself making coffee.

 'Damon Salvatore, what can I say? He's trouble with a capital T. Walks around this place like he owns it. The number of times he's been suspended. And the number of fights and broken hearts that boy's caused. If I was you my dear, I'd stay well clear.'

 'I can't.'

 'He's in her class,' Ric informed him. Jeff let out a whistle.

 'Well, best of luck. It was nice to meet you. Ric, what were you thinking, giving Damon fresh blood, on her first day?'

 'I didn't do it out of spite.' He turned to face Elena who had turned rather pale and more withdrawn then before. 'He's not that bad. He's a bit troubled.'

 'That's one word for it,' Jeff interjected.

 'Jeff, stop scaring her.'

 'Yes, Jeffory, stop it. Whatever it is.' A young woman about the same age as Ric, with cropped black hair, carrying a lot of bags came into the office. She noticed Elena. 'Hey, you must be a newbie. I'm Melody, but please call me Mel. I teach physics.' She dumped her stuff down on a chair before making her way over to Elena and shook her hand.

 'I'm Elena, I'll be teaching history.'

 'I've seen you've already met my two boys, poor you. At least I'm here now to make it more even. So Jeff, what have you done?' She playfully pushed him out of the way with her hip, as she made her way to the sink.

 'Melody dear, I have done nothing. It was Alaric here that did it. He's gone and thrown poor Elena to the wolves, so to speak.' Melody turned to look at Ric, a puzzled expression on her face.

 'Eh?'

 'I have not thrown her to the wolves, stop exaggerating. ' Jeff ignored him and carried on talking to Melody.

 'She's got Damon Salvatore on her first day.' Melody raised an eyebrow.

'Ouch, sorry but rather you than me chick. He's too arrogant for my taste. Only ever had him for periods where I was covering and that was enough for me. He's so full of it; he acts like he owns the place.'

 'My words exactly.'

 'Guys, he's not that bad. Just troubled that's all. Honest Elena. I wouldn't give you his class if I thought he was that bad.' Elena only looked slightly relieved by this and he could tell she needed a lot more convincing. 'I mean they're right he has got attitude and he his arrogant, but ultimately he's just very troubled.' Jeff scoffed and both Melody and Ric scowled at him for not helping the situation. He held his hands up in defence.

 'Ok, I'm off to my class to set up for the day, it was nice meeting you Elena,' and with that he left taking his drink with him.

 'Ric's right, he is just very troubled.' Melody agreed, sitting down next to her bags. 'And to be honest he has grown up a hell of a lot since I taught him. I'm sure it'll be fine.' She smiled at Elena, who weakly smiled back.

 'Melody's right. He's just a bit… difficult, that's all. He's actually very talented, especially in history. You'll be fine.'

 'Ok.' Elena nodded, trying to seem calm, but inside she was still nervous but then again, she'd come across troubled before and handled it and as Ric had said, if he was that bad Elena wouldn't be teaching him.

 'There we go. I've got to go set up my class and prepare for registration, Melody will take care of you won't you?' The older woman, smiled at Ric as he stood to leave.

 'Sure thing Ric.'

 'If you need anything my class is right next to yours- which is H32, I'm sure Melody will show you where it is.' She nodded. 'Ok, Good luck and just relax and enjoy yourself.' Elena smiled at him as he shut the door behind him leaving her and Melody to chat.

 'Hun , you'll be fine. Ignore Jeff, he comes across as grumpy bugger, but he's got a good heart. He's been here so long he's like part of the furniture and can be a bit old fashioned in his teaching style and his ways, but it's mostly an act. He just pretends to be an old dinosaur.' She smiled and gently squeezed Elena's leg in reassurance. 'Is this your timetable?' She pointed at the paper next to Elena where Ric had discarded it. 'Can I have a look?' Elena nodded and passed it over, her hand slightly shaking from nerves. 'See it's only one lesson a week; Tuesday last period. Just don't act nervous and because you've been warned about him it'll be a doddle, just don't take any nonsense, and be prepared for some smart retorts.' Melody looked Elena up and down, and unknowingly came to the same conclusion as Ric, about her being the object of many boys' affections. 'He's bound to make some comment about the way you look.' Elena frowned.

 'What's wrong with the way I look?'

 'Nothing, hun. You look gorgeous, but that's the problem.' Elena blushed.

 'I don't understand?'

 'Damon has a bit of a reputation as a ladies man, and likes to flirt with any living female, regardless of age, status or in this case profession. He even tried it on with me and compared to you I'm no looker. Just be prepared, he's quite the charmer.'

 'Ok, I got it.' Elena could cope with smarmy men, working part time as a waitress while she trained had taught her how to handle men.

 'It also might help if you put him in his place a few times, embarrass him. Guys like him hate that.' Elena nodded.

 'I think I can handle him, if he's just an arrogant guy. I worked as a waitress and I'm sure I can handle myself.' Melody grinned, as the young teacher before her started to seem more sure of herself.

 'That's it girl! Don't take any notice of him.' She looked up at the time, and quickly finished her drink, setting her mug down. 'We've got twenty minutes before briefing, and unlike you I have a form to also prepare for, so I'll show you your class and let you prepare and we can meet at lunch and eat together, but believe me I have a good feeling about you. You're gonna be just fine.' Elena smiled as she followed Melody out the door, hoping that she was right

 


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

As Elena made her way down to the cafeteria at lunch time with Melody, she was feeling much more confident.

'How's the day been so far? You seem more at ease?' Elena smiled.

'Yeah, I am. My first few periods were fine.'

'That's good. Now I have to warn you, the food is a bit…' She pulled a face and Elena laughed.

'Nothing changes then. Food was always like that in high school.'

'So true.' They cut the queue, much to the dismay of the students and both got portions of cheese pie with sponge and custard for dessert.

'Do we sit in or in the lounge?' Elena asked, looking around at the jungle which was the cafeteria at lunch time.

'In. It'll give you a chance to meet some of the other staff and plus some of the staff tend to dislike anyone eating in the lounge unless its sandwiches.' Elena nodded and the two women went and sat down with the other staff.

While they ate and chatted, Elena looked around at the rest of the people in the canteen. Nothing really changes she thought to herself, as she identified the cheerleaders, the geeks, the jocks, the musicians and… She stopped her gaze on one particular pupil. He seemed older than the others, perhaps in the way he carried himself, she didn't know what exactly but he had an air of maturity about him. He also stood out, due to the clothes he was wearing, tight fitting dark jeans and a navy blue button down- dark but not in a gothic/punk way. He was standing, in the doorway talking to some cheerleader, when he looked her way. Even with how far away from him she was, Elena could tell he had bright blue eyes, that stood out more due to his near jet black hair and pale skin. He saw her staring and winked at her, also treating her to a smirk and Elena knew right then that she was looking at the infamous Damon Salvatore. He turned and walked out of the canteen and Elena was left once again feeling uneasy about her final period of the day.

* * *

 

Damon sauntered away with the busty cheerleader in tow but truth be told he'd lost interest in her already. He had been beginning to lose interest even after just the two days they'd been 'hanging out', i.e. having sex. Truthfully, that was the only reason Damon was with her and she wasn't particularly anything special in bed, but it took the edge off his needs and personality wise she lived up to every stereotype of a dumb cheerleader going. So if she'd wanted to stay around, she'd had to have pulled some amazing moves in bed, but now she didn't stand a chance and the poor girl was to be the latest in a long line of Damon Salvatore rejects tossed away like yesterday's trash. The reason for this particular girl’s sudden further drop in usability came in the form of the pretty brunette who'd caught Damon's wondering eye just moments before in the cafeteria. It wasn't just her looks that had drawn his attention, it was also something else, which he couldn't quite put his finger on. She had an air of mystery and intrigue around her that made him want to know more about her. She'd been sat with the teachers, but she didn't look at all like a teacher, she was too young for a start, not much older than himself and she didn't seem to act like the other teachers as she was laughing, and joking while other members of staff looked at her as if she was an entire different species. Maybe she was a student teacher, or just a visitor. Whoever she was, Damon was determined to find out more; he just wasn't sure where to start.

He didn't have to wait long to find out who she was, because as soon as he casually walked into 7th period a good 5 minutes late, he discovered that she was in fact his new history teacher.  He masked his shock quickly and sauntered over to his regular desk at the back as if he hadn’t a care in the world, all the while aware that she was just staring at him. If there was any doubt in his teacher's mind before that he was Damon Salvatore, it was all gone, and not just because the register told her he was the only one missing. The way he held himself, and his nonchalant attitude was everything she had heard about, but what she hadn't heard was how good looking he actually was. He looked much older than his seventeen years, and had the most piercing blue eyes she had ever seen. He looked like some superstar with his attire and jet black hair falling into his eyes, the problem was he seemed to know he was good looking and the arrogance she had seen a glimpse of at lunch seemed to radiate off him in waves.

'Mr Salvatore, I presume?'

'My reputation precedes me?' He smirked causing her to raise an eyebrow.

'Your five minutes late for my lesson, that's not acceptable.'

'I was in the little boy's room, but I can stay behind to make it up to you if you like?' He grinned devilishly at her. She shook her head.

'That won’t be necessary, Mr Salvatore. Just sit down and get your stuff out.' It was Damon's turn to raise an eyebrow now.

'Already, but we've only just met? And please call me Damon.’ He smirked as the rest of the class erupted into laughter, causing a blush to spread across his teacher's face and chest, and he couldn't help but think how much it suited her. 

'Get your pen and paper out.' She glared at him, daring him to challenge her again, as she made her way to his desk with a text book placing it down on his desk, trying to ignore the way his cerulean eyes bore into her or the way he smirked cheekily at her. She shook her head, before turning on her heels. 'Right, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,' at this she looked pointedly at Damon who acted as if he had not the faintest idea what she was talking about. 'I am Miss Gilbert, your history teacher for the year. This term we will be covering World War One, starting today with how it started. Does anyone know when it started?' She looked around expectantly at her class, who all looked like they wish they were somewhere else. Her eyes fell on Damon, who was slouched lazily in his chair, still looking smug.

'Mr Salvatore, seeing as you were late, maybe you can redeem yourself by telling me when the war started?'

'1914.'

'Correct and can anyone tell me what was the cause of the war?' Again she was met with blank stares. 'Anyone?'

'A sandwich.' Everyone laughed at what appeared to be Damon mucking around, but Miss Gilbert just looked at him, waiting for him to explain further.

'Care to elaborate?'

'The war started in Serbia after it was invaded by Austria-Hungary, but the trigger was the assassination of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand on the 28th June 1914 in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a member of the black hand gang. ' She smiled at him, obviously impressed.

'That is correct. The war was believed to be caused by his assassination.'

'Not a sandwich then?' Someone called out causing the class to laugh, all but Damon and Miss Gilbert.

'Perhaps Damon, you can explain how the sandwich could be seen as having started the war?'

'Certainly. On the day of the assassination, the Archduke was driving through the streets of Sarajevo and staggered along the routes were members of the black hand gang, all there to make sure that he died. However, they all either bottled out or didn't manage to kill him. After the drive through the main bit of town was over, the crowds dispersed and one member of the gang- Princip went to get a sandwich. Unbeknownst to him, the car driving the Archduke had gotten lost and took a wrong turning, ending up in the same street as Princip when he went to get his lunch. Seeing the perfect opportunity, Princip opened fire killing both the Archduke and his wife Sophie. The backlash between Serbia, where Princip was from and Austria-Hungary, caused World War One exactly a month later when Serbia was invaded by Austria-Hungary.'

'Brilliantly put. Couldn't have put it better myself. Well done Damon.' She gave him a warm heart-felt smile, that made him feel that she was actually sort of proud of him, which was odd because most of his teachers looked at him like he was a pain, pretty much like Miss Gilbert had when he'd first arrived in her class, but now she was looking at him like he was her star pupil. He looked around at his peers, compared to this dozy lot he thought, he probably was. He could tell she was starting to soften towards him not only by her smile but also by the way she said his name. Not Mr Salvatore, which always reminded him of his cold father- but his actual name. The way it rolled off her tongue caused something to stir within him but then again he was a red-blooded male and what male wouldn’t be stirred by her.   He watched as the attractive teacher wrote on the board, his eyes appreciatively scanning her body taking in her magnificently toned behind and what appeared to be rather shapely legs. However, he wasn't the only want staring at her, as his friend Jack leaned across at him to whisper 'I wouldn't mind tapping that.' Damon snorted.

'Ha. Good luck with that mate; she's way out of your league.' Jack scowled, rather put out by this statement.

'Like you'd have a better chance?' Miss Gilbert turned back to face them, and glared at Jack before warning him about distracting others who actually wanted to learn, with a pointed look at Damon. She turned to carry on with the lesson but firstly giving him that warm smile that made him think that yes, maybe he did stand a better chance with their teacher after all.

 


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 

The rest of the lesson went by without a glitch and at the end of the day as she packed away her things, Elena couldn't help but feel foolish at how nervous she had been, especially about teaching Damon. Ric had been right, he was exceptionally talented at history and as for the other stories she'd heard about him- apart from the arrogance that came off him in waves she wasn't sure where exactly his bad reputation had arisen from. She told Melody the very same thing at the end of her first day as they got ready to leave but Melody had just laughed. 'I said you could handle him, but don't get too confident. He'll show you his true colors soon enough.' Elena shook her head not at all convinced, there was something about him, underneath all the cockiness, she was sure of it.

'I reckon it's all an act, he's probably a really decent guy underneath.' Elena argued, but Melody shook her head.

'I used to think so, but there isn't. It's only your first day but I can guarantee that by the time your first month is over, you will see what he's genuinely like. Don't get me wrong, I still think you'll be able to handle him, but he is no way as easy to cope with as he appeared today. Why don't we get a drink to celebrate how well your first day went?' Elena considered it for a few seconds, before realising she had plans with Matt this evening; he was taking her out for dinner.

'I'm going out this evening, maybe another time.'

'Sure thing Chick. Anywhere nice?'

'Don't know. My boyfriend's planning a surprise.'

'Surprise ay? Sounds like wedding bells might be in the future.' Melody teased, causing Elena to blush.

'No. Nothing like that I'm sure.'

'You never know. Have fun and let me how it goes tomorrow, bye Chick.' Elena frowned as Melody's words floated around her head as she exited the classroom. Surely that wasn't what tonight was about was it? Sure they'd been together a while, but marriage didn't appear to be on the cards; they’d only moved in together, not too long ago.

* * *

 

Elena fretted over this as she made her way back to the flat she shared with Matt. They'd been together since freshman year at college. He'd been studying sports science and she was studying teaching and they'd met at a frat party and had been together pretty much ever since. As soon as college had ended, he'd insisted they should move to his home town of Mystic Falls and set up home together and as the only family Elena had was her brother Jeremy who was happily settled with his girlfriend, there was nothing really to stop her so she agreed. And Mystic Falls wasn’t that far away from North Carolina; but Elena had spent her entire life there, even going to college at Duke so as to stay close to everyone she loved. It wasn't that Elena didn't love Matt, she truly did but the thought of marrying him scared her. Truth be told, their whole relationship had gone a bit… flat recently. Ever since they'd moved in together, everything became a routine- even sex. Elena didn't want that and if they were like that now, what would they be like in ten years' time when they had kids? She shuddered at the thought. She'd been wondering for a while if her relationship was working, especially after they moved in together and in a town she didn't know. She knew no-one but Matt and she hated relying on him for her social network. She felt boring and her best friend Caroline had told her as such when she'd rung the other day, begging Elena to fly out to New York to visit. As Elena drove down the streets towards her apartment, she passed a couple walking with their children. They were in their late thirties and had three children, two boys and a baby girl. The Mom was pushing the pushchair while the Dad yelled at the boys to stop fighting. The Mom looked exhausted and frustrated as the baby started crying and the Dad shouted at her to shut the baby up. Elena panicked at the thought that this could one day be her life with Matt. She couldn't face that. She had to do something and now.

As she pulled the car onto the parking lot outside the apartments her nerves started to escalate. Deciding to leave her things in the car, she quickly made her way to the apartment. Looking around the open planned living space, she was relieved to see no signs of big romantic gestures.

'Matt?' She called, just as he walked out of the shower, a towel slung low around his waist, whilst he used a smaller one to dry his hair.

'Hey baby, how was your first day at work?'

'Good. Look, we need to talk.' He noticed her biting her lip, a sure sign of nerves and he started to grow concern, walking towards her.

'What's wrong? Is it work?' Elena threw her hands up to prevent him from getting any closer.

'No Matt. Work was fine. It's just…us.'

'Us?' He frowned. 'What about us?'

'I'm not sure it's working out Matt.'

'What do you mean, it's not working out? I thought everything was going fine. We've got our own place, everything we could ever want, what's wrong with that?'

'Nothing. It's just…' She thought for a moment. What exactly was wrong? What was missing? As he touched her arm, turning her to face him, his face begging for answers, she knew what was missing. 'There's no spark anymore Matt.'

'Course there is Baby.' She shook her head.

'I'm sorry, but there isn't.'

'Is it the move? You're just a little homesick that's all. It's a strange town, you'll get used to it.'

'It's not that, though the move did help me re-evaluate things, but I've thought for a while now that things aren't what they were. If you're honest with yourself, you'd agree.' He looked away as if in agreement with her statement, before slowly nodding. 'I'm sorry Matt, I'll pack my things and get out of here as soon as I can. I'll stay in a B&B or something till I can get another place.' He shook his head.

'No, I'll leave.' She started to protest.

'Matt, this place is your home.'

'No Elena. It was our home, we're only renting we can easily transfer everything into your name and I can just stay at my Mom's while I find somewhere else. I can't expect you to live in a B&B in a strange place, especially when you've only just started a new job.' Elena could see his point but she didn't like the idea of him being kicked out of his own home.

'If you're sure.'

'I am.' He stroked her arm, and smiled at her reassuringly. 'I'll go pack and be out completely in a few hours'. She gave him a watery smile, as she felt tears pricking her eyes at the thought of their relationship ending after so long in such a simple and quick way. Also the way he handled it all, with such dignity made her feel like such a cow.

'Thanks Matt. I do still care about you though, remember that.

'No problem. And the same, I will _always_ be here for you Elena. _Always.’_ With that he kissed her forehead and headed to the bedroom to get dressed and to start packing, leaving Elena alone with her thoughts.

* * *

 

By 9 O'clock that evening Elena's relationship with Matt was officially over and he had moved out of their- now her apartment. She sat marking the question sheets she'd given her Seniors' class, drinking a glass of wine when the phone rang.

'Hi.'

'Hey, hun, how was your first day at your new school?' Elena smiled as she heard her best friend, and her brother's girlfriend- Bonnie's voice.

'It was good.'

'Just good?'

'Yeah.' There was a pause.

'If it was good, what's wrong?' Elena was shocked at her friend's insight, sometimes it was like she was psychic.

'Me and Matt. We broke up.'

'Oh, no! I'm so sorry. Is everything Ok, what happened?' Elena could hear Bonnie talking, presumably to Jeremy- Elena's brother. 'Jeremy says does he need to come over there and sort Matt out?' Elena laughed.

'No. It's fine I ended it.'

'You did?' Again more murmuring.

'Yeah I did. It just wasn't working anymore. We'd lost the spark, you know?' Bonnie hummed in agreement.

'So what you going to now? Are you going to move out of Mystic Falls?' Elena could sense the concern in her friend's voice.

'No, Matt's given me the flat.'

'He's given you the flat! Wow, that was kind of him.'

'Yeah, it was. He's gonna move back in with his Mom for a while till he gets himself sorted.'

'Wow, never thought I'd see the day you two broke up. Thought you were perfect if you know what I mean.'

'Yeah.' She agreed, knowing that that was exactly what Matt had thought and so had she until recently.

'So, anyway tell me more about your first day.' Elena smiled at her friend's tactful change of topic.

'It was good like I said.'

'No embarrassing moments, no gossip, no bitchy colleagues, no hot men…' At this Elena heard Jeremy's disgruntled 'Hey,' before Bonnie muttered something along the lines of, 'not as hot as you,' causing Elena to feel slightly sad that she no longer had someone to banter with anymore even if it had only just happened. 'Sorry about that, Jeremy was being a bit jealous, he's gone to watch Tv. So were there any bitches or hot men?' Elena chuckled.

'No. Just hormonal students and American History.' She looked down at the perfect answer sheet in front of her and then at the name- Damon Salvatore. Now that was one hormonal student, if the way he was interacting with that cheerleader at lunch was anything to go by, along with his reputation which she'd learnt more about at lunch of how he supposedly slept with every member of the girls hockey team, including the coach- and that came from a member of staff.

'Sounds boring.' Elena chuckled.

'It is.'

'So the students behaved themselves?' Again Elena looked at the name before her, he was the only one who'd caused any trouble and that was only being late and a tiny bit cheeky.

'Yeah. Pretty much.'

'Pretty much?'

'Yeah, I had one guy be late and a bit cheeky.'

'Ah, it's just the first day. You wait, they'll show their true colors soon enough and I bet he'll be the worse.'

'Bonnie, don't be so negative.'

'I'm not. I'm being realistic Elena. You've had it easy. Bet he's the troublemaker.' Her friend's words along with that of the other members of staff worried her. What she had seen of Damon was nothing to worry about, but his reputation and her friend's uncanny foresight about things scared her slightly.

'Don't say that. That's what they've all said- that he's trouble.'

'See! I told you!' Elena could almost hear the triumph in her friend's voice at being right, and it annoyed her slightly.

'Bonnie, he was late that's all. It's nothing.'

'But you said he has a reputation.' Elena rolled her eyes.

'So do most high school boys Bonnie. He's nothing I can't handle.'

'If you're sure. Just be careful.'

'I will be.' As they finished their conversation Elena thought hard about the words of advice she'd received in relation to Damon Salvatore even from someone who had never met him but had some sort of sixth sense. Everyone said he was bad news but Elena just couldn't see it herself.

 


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Elena quickly settled into her new single life in Mystic Falls as a history teacher. She'd dreaded going into school the day after her break-up and having to tell Melody what had happened, but Melody was just really supportive. It wasn't long before the two women became firm friends, with Melody offering advice on matters such as what to do in Mystic Falls and how to handle certain students- mainly Damon.

As the days went by, Elena had still yet to see this other side to him, sure she'd seen him flirting with lots of girls and being rather full of himself, but that was nothing new amongst male high school students. He was by far her most abled student from what she'd seen in the three lessons they'd had and he seemed simply charming whenever she saw him outside of class, asking how she was and helping her carry things to her class. She'd quickly learnt that this was how he was brought up as his younger brother, Stefan, who she also taught was the same. It was the only thing the two boys had in common, as Stefan was more studious and quiet than Damon, and liked to keep his head down, whereas Damon seemed to simply adore being the centre of attention. It was three weeks into the term that Elena encountered Damon's other side.

Elena was in her classroom during lunch, supposedly marking work, when in fact she was texting Caroline and Bonnie, while writing in her journal. She'd found herself writing in her journal a lot recently after the move to Mystic Falls and the break up. She'd started writing a journal when she was 14 and had written one ever since. Now she had boxes of old journals charting her journey through adolescence and college. She found writing down her thoughts easier than talking about them. Even though she was genuinely OK with the Matt situation, she didn't like talking about it; which was why she wasn't eating lunch with the other staff. Ever since Melody had found out that rather than get engaged, her and Matt had gone their separate ways, she'd been regularly asking Elena how she was coping or asking her to go out for a drink. Elena always politely declined her offer as she had too much planning and marking to do, as well as not wanting Melody to try and hook her up with some random male, which was what she kept hinting at. Elena had enough of that with Caroline, who kept urging her to go to New York for the weekend. Despite how much she would love to go to New York and spend time with Caroline, this early into the semester, it wasn't an option. She was way too busy and to make matters worse Melody had roped her into joining the dance committee for the Halloween dance in three weeks' time- which involved discussing decorations, chaperoning the actual dance and giving up her Saturday's to plan it all. Not exactly the sort of thing Elena would normally agree to, but seeing as Melody insisted and it was that or go clubbing with her, she didn't have much choice.

Elena had just finished moaning in her journal about Melody's dance committee and the level of bitchiness that was standard amongst that sort of thing, when she heard raised voices from the end of the corridor. She frowned, it sounded like two students, but it shouldn't be as this area was out of bounds during lunch time. Deciding to investigate she left her belongings in the class before making her way towards the source. As she drew closer, she was able to distinguish that it was the voices of two male students- one of which sounded quite familiar. A few more steps and she realised that one of the voices belonged to no other than Damon Salvatore and judging by the phrases she could hear such as 'Our father say,' he was talking, or rather arguing with Stefan. Her curiosity was piqued. Obviously Elena had heard all about Damon's temper but nothing about Stefan's, so rather than break up the argument she decided to stand back a bit behind some lockers that stood at end of the corridor she had just come from. This gave her a prime location to hear what was being said, but if she wanted to see she'd have to step out into the other corridor and would then be entirely visible to the pair.   She could still lean out a bit, thanks to the lockers, but could see no more than Damon's back. It was clear by now what they were arguing about- a girl. Typical she thought. It was always about a girl in high school. However, it would appear it wasn't anything as simple as usual high school drama.

'You just couldn't stay away, could you Damon?'

'Like you couldn't you mean? Brother, if I wanted your girl I could have already gotten her by now. Then again how do you know I haven't?' There was a bang, and Elena leant forward slightly to see Stefan pinning Damon to the lockers.  She was stunned at this, Stefan was usually so mild mannered and yet here he was pinning his older, all be it by a year, brother against the lockers. She was about to intervene, when Damon managed to quite easily escaped his brother's grip, causing her to shoot back into the shadows. What kind of teacher would she be if they caught her watching?

'Don't speak about her like that. She would never do anything like that. Especially not with you.'

'Is that so? See why would she have you when she could have me? After all I am the bigger, I mean older brother.' There was another scuffle and a bang, but this time when she took a glance it was Damon pinning Stefan to the lockers.

‘Nice try little brother, but your just too weak for me.’ Damon released his grip and Elena shot yet again, back behind the lockers.

'What you going to do Damon, hit me? Go on. She won't leave me for you, she's not Katherine.' Damon emitted a growl. 'That's what this is all about- Katherine.'

'Don't say her name.' Damon snarled. 'It has nothing to do with her, what it has to do with is me saving your lovely girlfriend from a pathetic existence with you! I could pleasure her in ways you could never imagine and she'd never want to be with you again. Maybe I should?'

'You wouldn't dare!'

'Would I not? After all, it would be fair, because like you said you did the same with Katherine.'

'That was different, Katherine was using us.'

You maybe, but we were in love.' Elena heard Stefan snort.

'In love? She didn't love you, she'd leave your bed straight for mine, because that's how good you were.' Damon growled again and there was yet another crash into the lockers. This time Elena actually reacted. Stepping into the corridor she was greeted by the sight of the two brothers practically tearing chunks out of one another and repeatedly slamming themselves into the lockers.

'Boys, cut it out!' She marched over to them, where they had stopped brawling and were trying to catch breath- Damon's arm still wrapped around Stefan's neck. 'Damon release your brother now.' Damon sneered and let go before pushing Stefan back into the lockers, before Stefan could retaliate Elena was stood between the pair, taking in their rather dishevelled appearances. 'Both of you stop this now. This behaviour is not tolerated in school.' Damon scoffed. 'Damon.' She warned, but he just looked at her with disdain.

'If it's so frowned upon why did you stand and watch us.' He raised an eyebrow at her pointedly, as Elena gasped knowing she had been caught after all.

'Damon that is complete rubbish.' Again he sneered, his disgust obvious.

'I saw you, behind the lockers. What was it?  Wanted to see me get hurt? The famous Damon Salvatore getting his comeuppance.’

‘Damon, don’t be silly.’ Elena tried to reason, but she knew she’d been caught out and Damon was furious and obviously hurt.

‘Or was it that seeing two guys fighting get you flustered?' He walked towards her backing Elena against the lockers, his breath ghosting her face causing her to shiver and he smirked. She didn’t know how to react. They hadn’t covered this in depth in her training and she’d never seen Damon act like this, it totally threw her and she knew it was partly her fault for not separating them earlier.

'Damon, cut it out.' Stefan, pulled futilely at Damon's arm, but was shaken off easily.

'Back off Stefan. I wanna know why Miss Gilbert here didn't intervene? So what was it? Was it that we got you all hot and bothered fighting? That _I_ got you all hot and bothered.’ He raised his eyebrow in the trademark way she’d come to associate with him over the last few weeks. Usually it was quirky, but here in this situation it seemed more sinister.   Elena knew her shock at his comments was still written all over her face and before she could reprimand him he continued. ‘Or was it the thought of how I could make a woman scream? Is that it? Do you want me to make you scream? Have you rolling around in ecstasy?' Elena closed her eyes tried to block out his voice, to gain control of the situation but his presence was over whelming. He was so close his body heat was warming her up- or at least that's what she blamed for her increase in temperature, certainly not his words- and his cologne surrounded her making her feel as if she was actually breathing him in.

'Damon, stop this!' she opened her eyes to glare at him, they were eye ball to eye ball at this point and she was distantly aware of Stefan trying to prise his brother away, but Damon sent him easily skidding across the floor on his back. Leaving just her and Damon, as if in a bubble. Just the two of them; while he spoke dirty thoughts to her. Her discomfort increased. She had no idea how to deal with this sort of situation. This was Damon. He was usually so nice and polite to her. Yes he had a reputation, but so far she had yet to see him live up to it- till now. Now, she was seeing it in full effect and she had no idea how to react. She felt disappointment in the fact that she’d been wrong about Damon and also anger that he was treating her this way and then something else. His words shouldn’t have had an effect on her but they clearly were as she was blushing beetroot. The blushing just seemed to fuel Damon more.

'I am making you all hot and bothered, aren’t I Miss Gilbert? Your panties damp.' He traced the edge of her jaw with his finger lightly, causing something in Elena to snap. In that moment he’d over stepped the mark. He’d gone from angry, frustrated pupil lashing out, to just another leering male.

'Damon, stop this!' She pushed him away from her, glaring at him, rage boiling through her at how he thought he could just violate her. Again he raised an eyebrow, this time in surprise that she actually reacted.

'You sure?'

'Yes, Damon. Now get away from me. How dare you think you can get away with talking to me like that. You might be able to talk to other girls like this, but I am your teacher. Show me some respect!' Her disgust and rage evident with the way she spat out her words. She tried to storm away from him, but he grabbed her wrist pulling her back to her previous position of being face to face with him.

'I don't think you want that. I bet you would love for me to make you scream.'

'Damon.' She warned. 'Let. Go. Of. Me.' She ordered through gritted teeth, trying to deep breathe to calm herself down. He knew he was pushing it, she looked close to slapping him, but something inside him made him want to continue pushing her buttons.

'I bet your boyfriend could never make you feel like I could.' She edged further away from him trying to prise her wrist from his grip, but he still advanced on her- as if he was a predator and she was his prey. She noticed that by this point Stefan had vanished and she just hoped he'd gone to get help.

'Damon, you're hurting me. Get off!’ Elena pulled away from him still trying to prise his fingers from her in the process.

His grip instantly loosen slightly, but it was enough for her to pull away and put much needed space between them. 'This is not appropriate. Please stop this.' She tried to make herself sound assertive like Melody told her she should when handling this particular student, but it was too late. Damon had already seen how weak she could be, he was however shocked by how much of a fight she was putting up, he had never imagined she'd be so feisty and it spurred him on further with his little game, to see how far he could push her.

'Why? We seem to be having so much fun. I love a good chase. Don't like my women too easy, it makes it more rewarding when you finally catch them.' He advanced rapidly on Elena, and she found herself, yet again pinned against the lockers.

‘Damon stop this. This isn’t like you.’

'Oh but it is. I’m sure you’ve heard of my reputation.’   He hissed in her ear, his breath tickling her skin causing her to recoil in disgust.

‘Yes, but your better than this.’ She stared him straight in the eye, defiant as she tried to push him away, but he was totally dominating her.

‘I’m clearly not otherwise you’d have stepped in earlier.’ It was clear that was where all this had stemmed from, but he’d long passed being a hurt and angry teenage boy and had turned into a sexual predatory male and Elena was greatly struggling with her instinct to knock him to the floor. Despite Damon obviously being aware of her discomfort he still continued, ‘What would you do Miss Gilbert, if I was to kiss you now?' He leaned in as if to kiss her, and Elena gulped and tried to turn away, the urge to slap him was becoming too much and her arm tensed as she fought the urge to strike him and if she did that she was sure to lose her job. This shouldn't be happening. Just as she was sure he was about to kiss her, a shout of

'Damon Salvatore, back away from Miss Gilbert this instance.' Echoed through the corridor, and Elena was relieved to see that Stefan had indeed gone to receive help in the form of Alaric.

'We were just having a chat, weren't we Miss Gilbert?' Damon looked at her, daring her to say different knowing that if she did he would reveal how she watched him and Stefan fight. She scowled before opening her mouth to answer, but luckily Stefan beat her to it.

'Damon, was threatening her. He was saying all this stuff about her, and her boyfriend.' Stefan gulped, but Alaric nodded for him to continue. 'He was being all sexual.'

'You little…'Damon went to fly at Stefan, but Elena restrained him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back to stand by her, placing her hand on his chest and she instantly felt him calm, though his heart was still racing under her hand. Alaric turned to face Elena.

'Is this true?' Elena felt all eyes on her, and for a reason unbeknown to anyone including herself she found herself saying,

'Only slightly. He just said that he would be a better boyfriend than my current one, as he was more of a man. I think that's why he and Stefan were fighting. He was just upset I didn't break the fight up sooner, I think. Isn't that right Damon?' She stared at him, daring him to contradict her, but he was no fool. He knew she'd just gotten him out of a whole heap of trouble.

'Yes. I'm sorry Miss Gilbert, I shouldn't have turned on you like that.' Although his voice sounded sincere his eyes gave and his racing hard, gave it away that he was anything but. Elena suddenly became aware of the fact her hand was still on Damon’s chest and instantly withdrew it, but not before Damon gave her a sly smirk.

'Well in which case Damon, both you and your brother can make it up to Miss Gilbert by giving up your weekends to help with the Halloween Dance preparations'. Elena's eyes widened at this. Extra time with Damon??? But having seen the way Alaric was looking at her, she knew there was no way she could argue.

'Excellent, we could do with some extra help. Boys be here at 9 O'clock tomorrow morning. And Damon you can have after school detention on Monday for intimidating a member of staff.'  Damon rolled his eyes. ‘You’re lucky it’s not worse.’ They both reluctantly nodded. 'Now, both of you get gone, and stay out of trouble.' The boys agreed before leaving Alaric to talk to Elena. 'Are you OK, Elena? You looked pretty shook up.' She didn't know what to say, after all one of her students had just come on to her, she'd nearly slapped him and then lied about it, and now she had to spend her weekends with him. She’d handled it all wrong and should have given both boys a detention.

'I'm fine, Ric. Honest.' She gave him her best false smile, but he still didn't look too convinced.

'It's Ok, to feel out of your depth Elena. You're new and Damon is quite a handful.'

'I know, and it's Ok. I handled it.' If by handled it she meant freaked out, nearly got seduced by a teenager- all be it a rather handsome teenager and was close to slapping the boy.

'Ok, but next time don't be afraid to get help.' She nodded. 'Are you going to be OK, spending time with them both tomorrow, if not I can ask Melody to supervise them?' As much as she would love to take him up on that offer she knew it would make her look even weaker than she did already, instead she just gave a false smile and said,

'I'll be fine Ric, don't worry, nothing I can't handle.' He nodded, and left her alone in the corridor with just her thoughts for company. As soon as he was gone, Elena let out a deep sigh. 'What have you done Elena?' She thought to herself, but then an idea came to her. Reaching into her trouser pocket she took out her phone from where she put it in her hurry to get to the scuffle, and quickly dialled a familiar number.

'Hello,?'

'Hey, Care' it's me.'

'Elena!!!' Elena pulled the phone from her ear, to prevent herself from being deafened by her friends excited screams and laughed, she could always count on Caroline to be pleased to hear from her. 'Oh My God, how are you? How's work? When are you going to come visit?' Elena laughed, this was typical Caroline, speaking at a 100 miles per hour and not giving her any chance to answer a question before she went on to the next one.

'Steady on Caroline, give me chance to answer', she laughed.

'I'm sorry I've just missed you so much.'

'I know, which is why I was thinking why don't you come visit me tomorrow I've got….' Her voice was drowned out by her friend's excited squeals.

'Oh My God, that's amazing. I'll just book my ticket now, and should be able to be with you by the end of the night with any luck.' Elena laughed.

'Cool, but as I was saying I'm working on the dance committee tomorrow and was wondering if…'

'Of course I'd love to help Elena.'

'You didn't know what I was going to ask.'

'Yes, I did. I know you. I also know that I bet there's another reason you asked me to come visit.' Sometimes, Caroline's insight truly scared Elena.

'Er…no. Not really.'

'Mmm, sure. Anyway. I'll get it out of you when I come visit you, I've just booked my flight now and should be with you by midnight.'

'That was quick.' There was a silence, and Elena instantly knew why. 'You were already coming to visit, weren't you?'

'Well…' her friend started rather sheepishly. 'You wouldn't come visit me, so I thought I'd come visit you. Come on, Elena it'll be fun. It's only for a week or two.'

'Two weeks?!'

'Yeah, don't be mad. I thought you could use the company after the Matt thing. Please don't be mad.' Elena could just imagine her friend's pleading face and knew there was no way she could be mad, besides Caroline was just the sort of person she needed to deal with the problem she had with Damon.

'Caroline, it's fine. I'll see you tonight.' At the moment the bell rang. 'I've gotta go but relax it's fine.'

'Ok. See you later.'

'Bye Care'.' She hung up and instantly felt better about everything, her best friend was coming to visit and Elena would be able to get through her weekend detentions with Damon with no trouble at all- she hoped.

 


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slight sexual content

Chapter 5

The rest of the day went by in pretty much a mundane blur, with the same old Friday activities. The only difference was she found herself retelling the story of her ‘encounter’ with Damon more than she liked and now she had to get her apartment ready for Caroline’s abrupt arrival. Truth be told, she was more than grateful to have one of her best friend’s around at the moment, and out of Bonnie and Caroline, Caroline was best suited for this sort of scenario. Don’t get the wrong impression; Bonnie was her eldest and dearest friend who Elena shared everything with but when it came to the opposite sex Caroline was the better choice. She had more experience and a better grasp of how to handle things, whereas Bonnie’s most serious relationship was her current one with Elena’s brother, which made talking about boyfriend’s a bit awkward for them both. Also Bonnie tended to make snap judgements and stick to them whereas Caroline was more open and less judgemental which was exactly what Elena needed to calm her worries about how she handled Damon. It scared her how badly she handled the situation; how quickly it got out of hand and most of all how close she had come to physically hitting him. Also having Caroline around would act as some sort of buffer between her and Damon, and prevent another situation like that arising again while they were organising the dance.   Whereas Bonnie would be making observations about the situation Caroline would be a great distraction, throwing herself- and Elena into making the Halloween dance the best one Mystic Falls High had ever seen. Just the thought of the two of them working together to organise a dance reminded her of their high school days and how they became such good friends. Whereas Bonnie and Elena had grown up together, and been friends since early childhood, Caroline only came into the equation at high school when they all joined the dance committee and had been firm friends ever since.

The hours past slowly as Elena waited for Caroline to arrive. She’d already tidied the flat, done a fair amount of marking and still had three hours left till Caroline’s flight landed. Deciding to get some rest before the rather energetic ball of girliness that was Caroline bounced into Mystic Falls, Elena curled up on the sofa to take a nap and started to dream.

 

* * *

 

It was a fairly warm afternoon in her classroom and Elena found herself with a pile of marking she was struggling to make her way through. Thinking no-one would be around to see her, she unfastened the top three buttons of her blouse, leaving it incredibly low. She would be sure to cover up before teaching and just hoped anyone else would understand that it was because the temperature was so stifling. She was just putting away one lot of marking and pulling out the next when she heard a knock on the door. Figuring it would just be another member of staff, she shouted ‘Come in’, while still with her head under the desk changing over the marking. She sat back up again and was startled to see Damon Salvatore leaning on her desk.   His cerulean eyes boring into hers before his eyes lingered on the rather large gape in her top, which she was sure he could see down through to her naval.

‘Umm, Damon, what can I do you, I mean for you?’ He smirked at her near slip up which caused Elena to become even more flustered than she was already at seeing him so unexpectedly and especially so much of her flesh she on show. She tried to re-fasten her blouse, but his gaze made it difficult for her to master hand-eye control under such scrutiny, rendering her all fingers and thumbs.

‘See, the thing is,’ He moved towards her like a panther stalking its prey, ‘I was wondering if I could do some extra credit.’ By this point he was right in next to her. He knelt down so that he was eye level and spun her chair to face him. He gently removed Elena’s hands from her task of making herself decent before fiddling with the buttons himself. Elena gulped as she felt his fingers stroke her flesh, under the blouse.

‘What did you have in mind?’

‘Me doing something for you that would cause my grades to rise.’ She gulped, and suddenly became aware that rather than fastening up her blouse, Damon had been undoing it.

‘Da-,' The words were stolen from her throat as he latched his mouth onto her neck, and she groaned. Without even looking Elena, knew he was smirking.

‘Something like this maybe. Or this.’ As he spoke, he trailed his way from her neck towards her breasts, nibbling and sucking his way. On his last words, he’d reached her amble breasts and roughly pulled down her bra before attaching his mouth to her left nipple and sucking hard. She gasped loudly, startling herself out of her reverie and causing Damon to smirk just before she came to her senses and pushed him away. She gasped for breath shocked at both his actions and her reactions.

‘Damon what on earth do you think you are doing?’ Elena demanded, jumping to her feet and moving away from him, while clutching her top close.   She was furious at him, but at the same time she couldn’t help but be aroused by his actions and he seemed to know this.

‘Just doing a bit of extra credit.’ He advanced on her and she stepped back, walking into a filing cabinet as she tried to put distance between them but finding herself effectively cornered.

‘Damon this is inappropriate.’  She held her hands up to prevent him from approaching further, but he simply raised an eyebrow and walked towards her. He removed her hands from where they were clutching her blouse close and pinned them to her sides.

‘Is it? I’m sure the school would encourage my doing some extra credit.’ By this stage they were mere millimetres apart.  His finger grazed her cheek as he spoke.

‘Damon stop this!’ Elena was unable to stop him as his finger trailed down her neck and down the opening of her blouse that Elena had been too distracted to fasten. Damon smirked yet again at the effect he had on the pretty young teacher, and felt his own body react. Despite herself, Elena shuddered at his touch as he made a warm tingle flow over her body wherever he touched her, and then straight to her core. She tried to wriggle away from him, but he simply pinned her with his body. Her exposed breasts pressed against his chest causing her to become majorly aroused. Elena squirmed with discomfort at her own body’s reaction to him and found herself inadvertently rubbing against Damon’s own reaction. They both gasped as she felt his hard, erect penis pressing against her. Elena stared down at the bulge in his trousers and couldn’t help but notice how large it appeared to be and couldn’t help but image what it would be like to have it pulsing and pounding inside her.

‘Like what you see?’ Damon asked, breaking her out of her thoughts. He thrust against her slightly as if to give her a taster of what was to come. Elena found herself clutching onto Damon’s shoulders for support as she became overwhelmed by the rush of feelings he created in her as he stared at her with his beautiful blue eyes. His hands grazing the side of her breast causing her to shiver and get Goosebumps. He leant his head down, grazing her neck with his teeth while pushing himself against her core slightly, which caused a slight moan to come from Elena’s lips as she felt him fully hard and ready against her now throbbing centre. She couldn’t believe the effects he was having on her and tried to fight them by pressing her hands against his shoulders in a feeble protest to get him off her. ‘Damon’, it came out as more a moan of pleasure than the scolding it was meant to be. As he gently licked up her neck and thrust against her harder this time, Elena found herself clutching onto his shoulders, rather than pushing him away as she knew she should do. The thing was no guy had ever made her feel this way- especially not Matt and she couldn’t resist the chance to experience this feeling.

‘Elena.’ He whispered into her ear. Again she moaned his name and he groaned loudly, ‘Elena.’  ‘Elena look at me.’ She shook her head. No this couldn’t be happening. Not with him. ‘Elena.’ ‘Elena!’

‘Elena wake up!’ Elena sat up with a start and found herself face to face with Caroline. She blinked, completely confused first by the dream and secondly as to why Caroline would be at her flat. Then it dawned on her that she was supposed to pick Caroline up from the airport at; she looked at the clock on the wall behind Caroline- an hour ago.

‘Oh My God, Care’ I’m so sorry I was supposed to pick you up.’ Elena started to apologise but Caroline shook her head, smiling.

‘Don’t worry about it, I got a taxi back and found the spare key where you always keep it- above the door; you should thing of changing that. Anyway you looked so peaceful sleeping there.’ There was an expression on Caroline’s face she couldn’t quite place, one of smugness perhaps but about what Elena wasn’t sure.

‘So do you want a cup of tea? I’ll make us some while you put your stuff in the spare room. You remember where it is right from helping me move in, right?’ Caroline nodded. Elena disappeared into the kitchen somewhat still shaken by her dream and unnerved slightly by Caroline’s facial expressions. She had known Caroline for years and knew that, that smile meant ‘I know something you don’t know and it’s good’. Elena wondered if it was something to do with Tyler, Caroline’s boyfriend. They’d been together awhile now (by Caroline’s standards) so maybe it had something to do with that, but knowing Caroline if it was something like a proposal, she’d have been straight on the phone as soon as Tyler had gotten on one knee. Elena continued to ponder Caroline while making the tea, determined not to think about the dream she’d just had. It had been so erotic compared to her normal dreams that she couldn’t help but blush just thinking about it. At just that minute Caroline bounced into the kitchen.

‘You Ok? You’re blushing.’ Caroline asked, causing Elena to blush even more.

‘Umm, I’m not.’ Caroline smirked as she sat herself on the work service nearest the sink, clearly not believing her. ‘So umm, how’s Tyler?’ She handed the blonde her tea.

‘Yeah, he’s good.’ Elena nodded, the conversation was a bit awkward for some reason and she couldn’t help but think it had something to do with Caroline’s smugness.

‘So…’ the blonde out her cup down. ‘Anything to tell me?’

‘No.’ Elena shook her head taking a sip of tea.

‘Sure?’ Caroline raised an eyebrow clearly not believing Elena.

‘Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?’ Caroline shook her head before picking her cup back up and taking another drink.

‘No reason.’ Elena noticed the slight smirk playing on Caroline’s lips as she drank her tea. There was a pause while they continued to drink in silent before Caroline spoke the words Elena wasn’t expecting- ‘So who’s Damon? And why were you having a naughty dream about him?’


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 

Elena nearly choked on her tea. 'What? Oh… No one. So I'll go make up the bed in the spare room.' Elena set her cup down on the coffee table before hurrying down the small corridor that lead to the bedrooms, a blush glowing brightly on her face and neck. Caroline smiled to herself before following her friend.

'So this no one. He sure can make you blush,' she teased. Elena raised an eyebrow at her while she stripped the bed.

'Can you make yourself useful and help?' She threw a pillow at Caroline, narrowly missing her head.

'Jeez, careful! I've just had my hair done.' Elena rolled her eyes and waited for the next comment to come, but there was only silence as Caroline helped strip the bed. Eventually Caroline spoke again.

'So I spoke to Bonnie before I came over.' She tried to sound casual while putting a pillow in a new case, but casual wasn't a word associated with Caroline in any respect.

'Yeah? I spoke to her recently. Is she still OK?' Caroline nodded.

'As far as I know, she said her and Jeremy were thinking of redecorating so it's all fun, fun, fun there anyway.’

'Isn't it like that with you and Tyler?' Elena knew where Caroline had been heading with her questioning and was determined to stop it before it started, or at least prevent it for a while.

'No, me and Tyler are nowhere near the settling-down-and-discussing-the-furnishings-for-our-shared-apartment stage. I'm happy being independent, as I'm sure he is.' There was a frown on her face as she said it leading Elena to believe that her friend was leaving out some of the more crucial details.

'Everything ok, with you and Tyler, Caroline?' Caroline fixed on her mega-watt smile that said _'Everything IS ok--honest,'_ but actually meant, _'It's not ok, but I'm not going to talk about it, so leave me alone'_.

'Of course. Anyway, Bonnie said you'd had some trouble with a student.'

'It was nothing. _Is_ nothing.' Caroline didn't look convinced.

'You sure? Bonnie said he sounded like trouble.'

'Seriously, Damon's nothing I can't handle.' Caroline dropped the pillow she'd just dressed and stared at her friend opened mouthed.

'Damon??' Elena faltered in putting the duvet in the new cover, knowing realizing she'd just put her foot in it and given her friend the information she was after. She quickly straightened up, trying to act as if nothing was wrong.

'Umm, he's er… my student. The one I was having difficulties with. Ok, bed's changed. I'll just go have a shower and…' she spoke quickly throwing the freshly changed duvet back on the bed and trying to make a dash to the door, but somehow Caroline was quicker and had shot from her side of the bed and caught Elena by her wrist.

'Not so fast. Damon? As in Dream Damon??? Oh my god Elena, what's going on?' Caroline stared at her with a somewhat accusing look on her face, which Elena wasn't used to seeing on her best friend, especially towards her. 'Please tell me it isn't what I think it is,' she pleaded.

'It's not.' But Caroline didn't look too convinced. 'Honestly it's not Caroline. There's nothing going on between me and Damon, and there never will be.' Caroline let out a sigh of relief then narrowed her eyes.

'So why were you dreaming about him?' The accusing look was back on her face and was really disconcerting for Elena, so much so that she pulled away from her friend's grip and made her way back to the living room, Caroline hot on her heels.

'Not so fast, Gilbert! Why were you dreaming about him if it was nothing? Do you want something to happen? Is that it? Hmm?!' Elena flopped down on the settee, Caroline following suit, tucking her legs underneath and turning to carry on her intense questioning.

'What?! No! It's nothing like that Caroline, it's just… after everything today and…' she trailed off when Caroline raised her hand.

'Whoa? Back up! What happened today? Did something happen between you and this Damon? Is this why you invited me over?'

'Yes. No! What?' Elena threw her hands over her face and growled. 'This is sounding more complicated than it actually is', she muttered.

'Then uncomplicate it for me.'

'Look. I don't have feelings for my student. It's just that, well, today, he tried to hit on me.' Caroline gasped, her eyes wide with shock.

'No way!'

'Yes way, and as punishment he has to help with the Halloween dance, starting tomorrow.'

'Ah, that's why you needed me. Moral support.' Elena nodded.

'Exactly, and who knows more about balls and dances than you?' She paused and then snorted at her unintentional pun.

'Too true.' Caroline grinned, 'But what I don't understand is why they're making him spend extra time with you as a form of punishment for trying to hit on you. Isn't that some sort of reward?' Elena looked sheepish.

'Well it's punishment for fighting, not for trying hitting on me.'

'What?! Why?! It sounds like this guy should be kicked out! What did he do exactly?'

'Just made suggestive comments about how good we'd be in bed together but it was just talk, Caroline--honest.' But her friend still didn't look too convinced.

'Mmm. Well, he still sounds a jerk and it obviously shook you up enough to call me.'

'Well, I just feel a bit uneasy and because he would have gotten me into serious trouble for watching him fight his brother.'

'What? This guy sounds an asshole.' Elena scoffed.

'Yeah, pretty much. Thinks he's God's gift to women.'

'I hate men like that.' Elena raised an eyebrow. 'What? I do. Vanity is not attractive in a man.'

'Ironic, much?' Elena laughed.

'Ok, well, I can be vain and I have dated a few superficial men, but that doesn't mean it's right.'

'No and anyway, I'd never date this guy. I'd get arrested and lose my job for starters.'

'Good, glad that's settled. Now can we get back to the dream.' That gossipy grin was back on Caroline's face. She just yearned for juicy gossip and details about her friends’ sex lives and as Elena no longer had a sex life, as far as she knew--and she would know, this was the best she'd get.

'Nooo.'

'Go on, please. What happened?'

'It was nothing ok?' She paused and then sighed. 'He was just coming on to me like he did today, but this time he was undressing me and…'

'It got you all hot and flustered.' Caroline grinned at Elena's shocked face.

'No!' Caroline raised an eyebrow, 'Ok, maybe, but that's probably due to lack of sex and there was absolutely no sex whatsoever in that dream. It would have been sick and wrong if there was, no matter how good looking he is.'

'Good looking eh?' Elena glared.

'He's still my student, but you'll see what I mean tomorrow.'

'Ooo and I look forward to it, but I must warn you if he tries anything again I will go all Karate Kid on his butt, ok?' They both laughed.

'Deal. Now lets' get to bed. It's late and we have a busy day tomorrow.'

'Oh yes, Halloween Ball preparations and the meeting of the infamous Damon. I can't wait.' Elena rolled her eyes at her friend's smirk. Tomorrow would be interesting to say the least.

 


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Contains scenes of a sexual nature

Chapter 7

Damon woke bright and early on Saturday but he wasn't really sure why since he was dreading the rest of the day. An extra day at school, spent with his brother and that annoying teacher, Miss Gilbert. It was a perfect waste of time he could spend sleeping or with women, or even better, sleeping with women; instead he had to spend it organizing some pathetic high school dance that he wasn't even planning on going to. All because his snivelling brother couldn't keep his mouth shut. Granted, part of Damon knew he had been wrong to push Miss Gilbert like that. He had been angry at Stefan, not her, but when he'd seen her watching them, watching but not reacting or helping, it had blown his fuse.

 

As a teacher, she should have stepped in, but no--she had to wait till they'd come to blows and then protected _Stefan_ , not him. He’d expect it from other teachers, but not from her. They always seemed to get on. He was polite with her and respected her more than any other teacher, probably because she respected him more than any other teacher ever had, and he frequently helped her out both in and out of the classroom, with or without her asking for it, not that she did ever ask for it, but she always thanked him with a smile. But he really should have known something like this was going to happen. Their student-teacher relationship was going too well to be true.

 

It was always the way; Stefan was the innocent and he was the big bad. It was why he'd turned on her. He wanted to know why she hadn't reacted. It had started off out as annoyance at her incompetence to react, but then when she’d started to react to the new situation he had put her in, something else took over. The scared look he'd seen had pleased him, but then she replaced it with another: stubbornness. The fear had been fleeting, and then she seemed to have become annoyed him, which he wasn't at all used to, at least from her. She had no right to be annoyed. He should be the one annoyed because she hadn't done her duty and intervened!

 

So he had upped his game, pressing the button that gets a reaction from all women--sex. He knew he was out of order, but he couldn't help himself. And if he thought she was attractive before, when she became angry, she was something else. It was like a fire was burning through her veins, bringing her even more to life, lighting up her whole being, and he was the moth being drawn in. At first, he had wanted her to fear him again, since he could only really keep control when she did, and then he'd realized he could play another game--seeing how far he could push her. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't attracted to her, hell most of the male population of the school, students and teachers alike, were attracted to her, and the way she positively _glowed_ with anger, her face flushed and her eyes sparkling with a dangerous fire, was even more attractive, and if he could cause this, then he wasn't going to stop it.

 

By the time he had started touching her face, he had wanted absolutely any reaction, even if it was a slap, just so he could continue to thrive off the increase in her beauty. It helped that verbal sparring was exhilarating, especially with such a skilled opponent. The memory made him think of other activities they could do together, which had been the core problem of the situation. How she hadn't slapped him he didn't know, but he was sure he would have received one if Mr Saltzman hadn't arrived when he had. He wanted to know how much he affected her. She wasn't like other women, she didn't seem scared of him like some or drawn to him like the rest and that annoyed the hell out of him, but also intrigued him and drew him in.

 

But he wasn't going to be drawn into a woman who was clearly fickle, wanting to help him when it suited her and dropping him when someone else was around. He'd had enough of women blowing hot and cold with Katherine. This time he wasn't going to try and prove himself, he was going to live up to the reputation Miss Gilbert obviously believed was true; that he was a typical bad boy, un-savable and a hopeless case. To top it off, and make her even more disliked by him, he had to give up his Saturday. Maybe he could gain some reaction from her today? Maybe it would be better not to try after his father's furious tirade once Stefan had filled him in on the official story. Thankfully, he had enough decency to omit the true story, as had Miss Gilbert, which truly perplexed him. He supposed she was just like the other staff and was protecting her own skin, but she surely could have dropped him in it far more than she actually had. Instead, she had pretty much saved his bacon, because if she had been truthful, he would have been facing a suspension at least, if not an exclusion, which would have really pleased his father.

 

He laughed at the thought as he lay there on his bed thinking about the day ahead. He was still confused at Miss Gilbert's actions, all of them including when he was, as Stefan put it, threatening her. He couldn't figure her out, at all. And Damon Salvatore prided himself on being able to read women, but this one had him stumped and half of him was curious to know more about her but the other half despised her for not coming to his aid sooner, and then judging him. She probably thought it would do him good for Stefan to put him in his place. Well, she was wrong. She knew nothing about his relationship, or lack-there-of, with Stefan. Granted, Stefan was his brother and he would do almost anything for him, but that didn't mean he had to like him. In fact, the majority of the time he barely tolerated the traitor who Damon saw as nothing more than a clone of their father.

 

So no, Miss Gilbert didn't know him and his silly reputation had cost him. He'd thought she believed in him, that he was her star pupil, but no, she clearly saw him just like everyone else did--the proverbial bad penny. Then again, now that his relationships with Stefan and his father were in tatters, and Katherine had, thankfully, absconded, his reputation was all he had left, so he may as well live up to it. However, a small part, deep inside of him that wasn't bitter at the way life had treated him, wanted to show Miss Gilbert he wasn't like his reputation at all. He scoffed at this. That would make him weak, and Damon Salvatore wasn't weak. No, what he would do is ignore her but do what she asked better than she expected and show her she was wrong and then, just as she would start to change her opinion on him, he would prove that her belief in his bad reputation was correct. After all, no one second guessed Damon, not even himself.

Which is why he was quite surprised to find a certain part of his anatomy was begging for attention at the thought of the delectable Miss Gilbert. He wanted to be disgusted at himself for reacting in such a basic way to a woman who had treated him so badly, but as the situation with Katherine had shown him, he was a slave to both pretty women and his lust for sex. He stepped into his on-suite bathroom, divesting himself of his boxers as he went before switching the shower to ice cold and stepping in. He picked up his usual shower gel, lathered his hands and then gripped his throbbing shaft while leaning with one hand against the tiled wall of the shower. He went faster than his usual pace, just to get it over with. He didn't like the idea of getting himself off over the thought of someone who had betrayed him, but he couldn't stop the thought of it being Miss Gilbert's hand on his member from taking over his mind as he shut his eyes.

 

He could just see her on her knees in front of him, her hair brushed to one side, as she worked furiously at what was aching so hard for her. She'd lick the tip teasingly, staring up at him, that cheeky glint he'd seen sparkling in the depths of her eyes a few times, now glowing brightly from the doe-brown orbs. Then she'd nibble at the underside while one hand worked on his balls, the other still moving up and down his pulsing shaft. She'd grin before taking him in her mouth. The warm, wet cavern, closing around him as she bobbed her head eagerly, her tongue out to brush the underside as she went, one hand twisting gently 'round what her talented mouth couldn't take in while the other continued their fondling of his balls. His hand would slip into her hair and bring her closer, forcing her to let him practically fuck her mouth. His balls clenched tight at his fantasy and his breathing quickened. He was so close.

 

He squeezed his thick cock tighter as he imagined her moaning softly around him, the vibrations from her lips causing the tightness in his balls to intensify to unbearable levels. She'd scrape her teeth along his hardness in just the right way, before flicking his head with her tongue one last time. It was enough to send him into a roaring orgasm, and as he gasped for breath, his seed spurted out onto the wall. As Damon opened his eyes, he couldn't believe how amazing that had been. Without doubt that was one of, no, the _best_ self-induced orgasm he'd ever had, and he hadn't even been thinking about actual sex.

 

The thought of what it would be like to imagine _actually_ having sex with Miss Gilbert caused him to start hardening again almost immediately and he groaned. Unfortunately, there was no time now, but there may be later. He grinned at the thought, now only slightly disgusted at himself for thinking about a back-stabber--after all she was hot, and he was male. He was starting to look forward to seeing her again, just to wind her up. He cleaned up both himself and the tiles before having a proper ice cold shower, getting more and more excited for this morning's committee meeting, even if it was just to get new images for his spank bank.

 


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Caroline sat adjacent to Elena at the head of the table as teenagers sat round the edge eager to start planning what one of them described as ‘The Halloween Dance to end all Halloween Dances--till next year obviously.’ Caroline smiled at this and whispered to Elena, ‘I like her.’ Elena looked at her pointedly.

 ‘I wonder why?’

 ‘I was never that bad was I?’ At Elena’s raised eyebrow, Caroline blushed, ‘Ok, maybe a little…’ Elena still had her eyebrow raised. ‘Ok, a lot, but that’s why you like me right?’ Elena laughed.

 ‘OK, so we’re all here to plan the dance. Now, Megan here has volunteered to be head of the dance committee for this year. Is there any objections to this?’ Elena gestured to the mini-Caroline, who looked so excited to be there even on though it was a Saturday morning. Looking around the table as the assortment of characters present muttered 'No,' Elena couldn’t help but feel Megan was basically going to plan this dance on her own, very much like Caroline had when they were younger.

 ‘OK, that’s decided then. Megan is head planner. Now Megan, I believe you have some ideas you’d like to share with us?’ Megan grinned and took out a sparkly pink notebook and fluffy pen, flicking her dyed red hair for effect before reciting off her list.

 ‘So firstly, we have to choose a theme. Last year it was Gone with the Wind meets zombies with the 1800s Halloween theme and this year I’m thinking…’ As she spoke, Elena turned slightly to Caroline.

 ‘Told you she was like you.’

 ‘OK, she is. Anyway, are we missing someone or is one of that lot the infamous Damon?’ Caroline skeptically eyed the three male students all sitting on the opposite side of the table to the girls. They consisted of, in Caroline’s words, ‘A chess club geek, a dumb jock, and guy there purely to get laid.’

 ‘Yeah we are, totally forgot. I was enjoying the peace too much I guess.’ Elena had known Damon was absent but was really hoping he would be a no-show. Just the thought of being around him after he'd tried to seduce her and after she’d had an erotic dream about him made Elena feel sick. She turned to Megan.

 ‘Sorry to interrupt you, but we’re missing someone.’ Megan frowned.

 ‘Who could we possibly be missing?’

 ‘Why me of course.’ Everyone turned to look at the smug male standing in the doorway with his arms wide open. Elena sighed. Of course he just had to turn up. Having a day without him bothering her was too good to hope for. She couldn’t help but blush as she looked at him and a flash of how Dream Damon made her feel spliced through the forefront of her mind. A small part of her, very, very deep down wondered if the real Damon would make her feel the same way, especially following the words he’d uttered to her the previous day. How he thought he could make her roll around in ecstasy. Her eyes strayed slightly to the bulge evident in the front of his pants and she couldn't help but wonder if he was as big in real life as he had been in her dream. However, she couldn’t tell without him removing his pants (which was NOT going to happen), and part of her was slightly disappointed while the rest of her was disgusted at herself for checking out her student. She had to admit begrudgingly to herself that he was in fact extremely good looking. He was by far the most handsome student she taught, and one of the most gorgeous males she had ever met. The problem was, he knew exactly how gorgeous he was.

 ‘Please tell me that’s Damon?’ Caroline hissed, dragging Elena out of her rather embarrassing thoughts, causing her to blush even further. However, thankfully, Damon seemed too occupied with the students, particularly Megan to notice--or so she thought until she’d noticed his Cheshire Cat grin and then he winked at her. She scowled, still blushing and turned to face Caroline.

 ‘The one and only.’

 ‘I totally get it all now.’

 ‘Not helping Caroline.’ Elena hissed before turning her attention back to Damon, taking a few breaths to calm her emotions, before addressing him. ‘Mr Salvatore, nice of you to finally grace us with your presence. And your brother?’

 ‘I’m here Miss Gilbert. I’m so sorry we’re late, Damon over-’ Stefan was cut off by Elena raising her hand.

 ‘Stefan, it’s ok. You’re both here. Now take a seat.’ By this point Damon had seated himself next to Megan and winked at her causing her to flush scarlet. ‘Megan here was just saying we need a theme for the dance.‘

 ‘That is a brilliant idea Megan. Did you have any suggestions?’ Elena looked at Caroline and rolled her eyes as Damon switched on the charm and took over her meeting, all the while causing Megan to get all flustered, but Caroline seemed as hypnotized by Damon as Megan was.

 ‘Well… I.. I was thinking maybe a film theme, based on some Halloween type film,’ she blushed and stammered under Damon’s gaze, while Elena looked on unimpressed.

 ‘Excellent idea, don’t you agree Miss Gilbert?’ Damon fixed her with his ice blue gaze which she guessed usually made women like Megan melt, but not Elena. She held her resolve not to be bothered by him, despite her dream last night, her earlier moment of weakness and the comments Caroline was currently making such as ‘He is totally hot,’ and ‘I would so totally dream about that.’

 ‘I do. Any suggestions as to what film, Megan?’ Elena pointedly ignored Damon.

 ‘Well I was thinking Frankenstein…’ The ‘guy there to be laid’ as Caroline had described him scoffed.

 ‘That is so lame.’ Elena glared at him.

 ‘Well…’ she looked at her paper, ‘Scott, do you have any better suggestions?'

 ‘Yeah, what about Tim Burton Movies?’ Murmurings came from around the table.

 ‘That would be so cool.’

 ‘Yeah, be Willy Wonka, man.’

 ‘Seems we might have found a theme. Any objections to the Tim Burton Movies theme?’ Elena asked, trying to regain control over the meeting. ‘Megan?’ Megan looked at Damon who whispered something to her, causing her to giggle before she nodded. Elena jotted the theme down in her notepad.

 ‘OK, theme sorted. What was next on your list, Megan?’

 ‘Umm, decorations.’ Elena was stunned how different the girl had become since Damon had seated himself next to her. She was totally shy and flustered now; gone was the confident girl that had first commandeered the committee meeting.

 ‘Oooo, we could have a creepy graveyard type theme, with a fake graves and coffins and streamers in black and grey and fog machines to give it an eerie effect. Put drapes across the ceilings with red fairy lights across. I presume you guys are having it in the gym right?’ Everyone turned to stare at Caroline who had suddenly sprung to life. ‘What, I was head of prom committee myself, you know? Me and Elena, I mean, Miss Gilbert did this sort of thing all the time.’ Elena continued to stare at Caroline who offered her an apologetic look before Elena turned to address the group only to find Damon’s icy gaze penetrating her, a smirk on his face and his eyebrow quirked in his trademark way. She shook it off and continued addressing the group.

 ‘So what do we all think of Caroline’s ideas?’ Several nods came from around the table.

 ‘They’re good. And mine and Damon’s father will be willing to supply the wood for the coffins or any other decorations that might be needed.’ Damon scoffed causing both Elena and Stefan to glare at him. ‘I mean our mother used to do balls so we have loads of decorations I’m sure you could use.’ Elena beamed at Stefan.

 ‘That would be marvelous Stefan, thank you so much. Is that ok with you Damon?’ She looked at him pointedly. He shrugged and she had to stop herself from childishly stomping her foot in frustration.

 ‘Whatever. He’s the golden child. Whatever he wants he gets. Actually, I’m like that, whatever I want, I get.’ He smirked, before winking at Megan. Elena looked at Stefan who rolled his eyes and shot her an apologetic look for his brother's behavior.

 ‘Ok, so decorations are sorted. How about other details, like posters? Who’s going to do that? And Miss Gilbert, have you worked out the chaperone’s yet?’ Elena was instantly grateful that Caroline took over.

 ‘Umm...chaperones will be Mr Saltzman and I and, Caroline, you aren’t still here then, are you?’

 ‘Ummm, it’s the 31st right?’

 ‘Well, yes that’s Halloween.’

 ‘I know, duh! Umm, no sorry. I leave the week before’

 ‘Oh, what a shame you won’t be gracing us with your presence at the dance. I was hoping I could steal you for a dance, that’s if the lovely Megan wouldn’t mind. After all, you will be accompanying me as my partner, won’t you?’ Caroline, Elena, and Megan all looked stunned. Caroline and Elena at the sheer brazenness of Damon, and Megan because clearly this was the first time she'd heard anything about going to the dance with Damon.

 ‘You want to go with me?’

 ‘Yes, of course. Who else would I rather go with?’ Damon plucked up her hand from the table and placed a kiss on it. Elena looked at Caroline who simply rolled her eyes.

 ‘Ok. Sure, I’d love to.’

 ‘Sweet, pick you up at 8. Now, where were we?’ He grinned at Elena, knowing his behavior and attitude must be annoying her.

 ‘We were just discussing chaperones and, seeing as Caroline won’t be there, it’ll be Mr Saltzman, Miss Cosby, and I. Now about the posters. Any volunteers?’ She looked around the table and was greeted with glazed looks from all eyes with the exception of one exceptionally blue set. ‘Alright, Damon, you’re in charge of posters. They must have the date, time, ticket price, which is the usual, and theme. Do you understand?’

 ‘Sure. I’ll draw a rough design over the weekend for you and give it to you next week.’

 ‘Thank you.’ Elena forced a smile, and looked at the clock. ‘OK, that’s us done for the week. Damon, you’re designing posters. Stefan, your sourcing decorations, and everyone else think of other ideas. Keep in mind, we also need to consider food and music. We’ll be meeting again Tuesday after school, ok?’ They all reluctantly nodded except Megan who was positively glowing. ‘Ok, you can all leave unless you have some questions?’ They all got up to leave, Damon quicker than the rest giving Megan a brief peck on the cheek, a wink at Elena, then charged out the room, leaving poor Stefan behind.

 ‘The cheek of that boy. Tell you what, he’s got arrogance practically oozing from him.’ Caroline told Elena, who nodded in agreement. ‘However, he is pretty gorgeous. No wonder you were dream--OW!’ She broke off as Elena's elbow made contact with her rib and glared at her to stop it, before turning to address an approaching student, which just so happened to be Stefan.

 ‘Hi, Stefan how can I help you?’

 'I’d just like to apologize for my brother’s behavior. He can be a jerk sometimes.’ Caroline scoffed and muttered ‘Sometimes?’ before Elena shot her a dirty look.

 ‘Sorry, I’ll go wait by the car.’ Elena turned back to Stefan.

 ‘It’s ok, you don’t have to apologize. It’s not your fault.’

 ‘I know, but he hasn’t always been like that. He changed when our Mom died about ten years ago. I can’t really remember her as well as Damon can, but I know her and Damon were really close.’ Elena nodded. She guessed that made a lot of sense in the terms of how he behaved. He was lashing out because he was somehow still grieving, though she knew it couldn't be the entire story; the girl he mentioned yesterday, Katherine, and possibly his father, were both involved somehow.

 ‘It’s ok Stefan.’ She placed a hand comfortingly on his arm, just as a cough interrupted them.

 ‘As much as I hate to break up this happy moment, me and Stefan have to get home.’ Damon leant against the doorframe, staring angrily at Elena’s hand still resting on his brother’s arm.

‘Sure. See you both next week.’ She held onto Stefan’s arm, staring meaningfully into his eyes. ‘If you ever need to talk Stefan, come find me, ok?’ He nodded.

 ‘Does that go for me too?’ Damon smirked at her as she let go of Stefan’s arm.

 ‘That goes for all my students, Damon. Now come on, it’s time to go. I need to lock up.’ Damon pushed himself from the doorframe.

 ‘See you next week, Miss Gilbert.’ He smirked at her, sending shivers down her spine before he sauntered away, dragging Stefan with him.

 

* * *

 

As Damon got into his car with his annoying brother he couldn’t help but think that this morning hadn’t been such as waste after all. He’d found a new girl to keep him occupied for a while--at least until the dance, and he’d made Miss Gilbert blush. She’d looked adorable with the red glow radiating off her skin, and he’d made sure to file that image away for another time. However, he still hadn’t changed his opinion of her, she was still a two-faced bitch. Albeit a rather gorgeous one.


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Contains scenes showing abusive and violent parenting

Chapter 9

Caroline and Elena spent the rest of the day shopping and taking in the sights that were classified as ‘infamous’ around Mystic Falls.

‘See, if you like this, why not come visit New York? Seriously, Elena it’s amazing. Starbucks on every corner, and the best hot dogs, ever!’ Elena looked at her friend and laughed.

‘I will, Care! Just not yet since I’ve only just started work and I'm going home for Christmas. Maybe February or around Easter?’ Caroline groaned.

‘That’s _ages_ away. I want to show my best friend around my amazing city!’

‘I’m sorry. Can’t you show Bonnie?’

‘She’s seen it already. Plus, she’d want to bring Jeremy or be pining after him all the time. I mean, I know he’s your brother and all, and no offense, but I just find them yucky, all lovey-dovey.’ Elena looked at the expression on Caroline’s face and laughed.

‘And you and Tyler are never like that, are you?’ She was teasing but for some reason Caroline frowned.

‘No, actually. Hey isn’t that Damon?’ Caroline clearly but smoothly changed the subject and pointed to a massive house just in front of them, and a shirtless figure appearing to mow the lawn. As they approached, Elena recognized the structure as being the infamous Salvatore Boarding House.

‘Yep.’

‘Wow. He actually lives there?’

‘Looks that way.’ As they drove closer, Elena began to make out the deep lines formed by sculpted abs and the thick muscles of his arms and shoulders, and he really was a piece of art. Caroline was clearly thinking the same thing.

‘Dear God, Elena. He is truly gorgeous. I said it earlier, and I'll say it again, but I can totally see why you would dream about him, despite his cockiness. Then again, it might be because of his cockiness. I doubt someone _that_ arrogant is lacking in _that_ department.’ She smirked, clearly relishing the opportunity to tease Elena and was rewarded with an evil glare. Elena was about to respond when a voice shouted out.

‘Damon! You pathetic waste of space, have you not finished that lawn yet?’ Elena looked across and saw a tall, formidable man striding across the lawn towards Damon. Elena slowed the car, curious to observe the scene. Both women winced as the elder man Elena presumed to be Damon’s father smacked the teen around the head. ‘Hurry up and once you’re done, go tidy the cellar. Such a slovenly boy, your mother would be appalled by you.’ Even though they weren’t that close, Elena could still see the hurt on the boy’s face and her heart went out to him. At that moment, Damon turned towards the road and caught Elena’s gaze. She hid her face, ashamed that once again he had caught her watching him suffer and had yet again done nothing.

‘Elena just drive and get out of here. You can sort it out on Monday.’ Elena nodded as she accelerated. Damon's father didn't look up from his ranting tirade as they drove past, but her eyes met Damon's directly, and she pleaded silently with him to understand. His bright blue eyes seemed to haunt her rear-view mirror even after the boarding house was out of sight.

 

* * *

 

Elena spent the weekend fretting about what she saw and what to do about it; despite Caroline telling her there was nothing she could do until Monday. But by the time Monday came round, she was in such a state that she couldn’t wait to find Ric- even going as far as to turn up early. When she did find him, he instantly took in her appearance and easily surmised that something was troubling her.

‘What’s wrong, Elena? You look like you haven’t slept all weekend. Sit down and I’ll make you a cup of tea.’

‘Thanks, Ric. I haven’t.’ Elena pulled off her coat as she sat down while Ric busied himself making tea.

‘Why? What on earth’s happened? Isn’t anything to do with your ex-boyfriend is it? Melody mentioned you recently split.’ Elena shook her head.

‘No, nothing like that. It’s about Damon Salvatore.’

‘OK, what’s he done?’ Elena shook her head.

‘No nothing like that. It’s just on Saturday I was driving past his house when I saw him arguing with a man I presumed was his father.’

‘People argue with their families all the time Elena, it’s perfectly natural.’ He looked up at Elena’s face. ‘But I’m guessing there was more to it.’ She nodded.

‘It wasn’t so much an argument, more his father shouting at him. He called Damon a waste of space and said his mother, who I believe has died, would be ashamed of him. And then he hit him.’ Ric sat down next to Elena while he waited for the kettle to boil.

‘This doesn’t at all surprise me. Damon and his father have never gotten on. From what I can gather, Damon looks like his mother who died when Damon was 8, from cancer. I’m guessing that makes things difficult for Giuseppe- Damon’s father.’ Elena nodded.

‘Doesn’t make it right though.’

‘Oh, no. Not at all. I mean I can have a word with Damon, but it won’t do any good. Despite everything, Damon is still loyal to his father.’ Elena sighed.

‘Seriously, nothing?’ Ric shook his head and got up to continue making the tea.

‘I know. Unless Damon opens up about it, there’s nothing we can do. I mean, we can watch Damon and Stefan, although Stefan seems to have a good relationship with his father. And maybe incorporate them in more after school activities; they’re both involved in the Prom Committee, which means they’re out the house and away from any abuse. You could talk to both boys about the subject. Although I doubt either will be very forthcoming on the subject and I’m guessing you’d also be bit reluctant to talk to Damon after Friday.’ Elena nodded. The thought of facing him after the events of both Friday and Saturday on her own filled her with terror.

‘I know I shouldn’t but I also feel like I let him down by doing nothing on Saturday.’ Ric handed her her tea and gripped her arm comfortingly.

‘You did the right thing Elena, and Damon should understand that. I’ll have a word with him during detention, but try not to fret.’ He smiled reassuringly.

 

* * *

Elena had successfully avoided Damon and would have gone the entire day without encountering him if she hadn’t forgotten about his detention with Ric and walked straight into it to hand Ric her weekly plans. She instantly felt guilty for interrupting the pair when they looked so deep in conversation. Ric was sitting on one of the desks while Damon mirrored his position, facing him but not looking at him. They both turned to look at her as they entered, Damon’s eyes boring into hers, but unlike on previous occasions, there was no smirk. In fact he looked quite somber. Both men did.

‘I’m sorry to interrupt. I came to give you the plans you asked for’.

‘It’s ok. I was just going to get us both a drink. Could you stay with Damon a moment?’ Elena’s eyes widened at Ric’s suggestion. Could she stay alone with him? After a split-second pause, she nodded.

‘Sure.’ As Ric walked past her he whispered talk to her, ‘He knows you saw what happened. Maybe you can get more out of him.’ Elena nodded, not sure how to proceed with this conversation. And now here she was, alone, with Damon Salvatore.

They both remained in silence neither knowing what to say. Damon got down off the desk and for a moment Elena thought he was going to approach her; instead, he simply sat down on the chair, pulling up his bag before fetching out a piece of paper and a pen. Feeling braver, Elena stepped closer to him and found him already intently drawing what appeared to be Beetlejuice. It was only a quick sketch but it was very good. Upon the center of the page, he began to write 'Halloween Da-’ and Elena realized what he was doing- the invitations she’d asked him to design for the party.

‘Are those the invites I asked you to do?’ She stepped closer to look, but he didn’t look too intent on what he was drawing.

‘Yes.’ It was curt and she knew that, before their next lesson together tomorrow and the next committee meeting, she had to restore at least some of their teacher/pupil relationship,

‘It’s good. Do you like drawing?’

‘It’s alright.’ There was silence again, before he sighed, putting his pen down and looking up at her. ‘I’m bored. Can we just cut to the chase now? You want to talk about what you saw, or think you saw, on Saturday.’ His cerulean eyes bore into her and she instantly felt uncomfortable but knew she couldn’t run away from this.

‘Yes, I do. Look Damon, I saw your father hit you.’

‘It’s nothing. Parents hit their children all the time. You telling me your parents never hit you?’ She didn’t answer, remembering the times her parents had hit her when she was a teenager, but it had never been followed by words of such malice that Damon had been subjected to. Taking her answer as the affirmative he sneered. ‘Didn’t think so. Don’t worry about me. Nothing I can’t survive.’ Elena shook her head. This wasn’t right. His nonchalant attitude wasn’t right. Not for man of his age. He shouldn’t just accept what was happening to him. And she was now sure it was a regular occurrence.

‘It isn’t right Damon. No one should have to suffer like that.’ He ignored her and returned to his drawing. ‘Damon, I’m serious. If you need to talk about anything….I’m here.’ She placed her hand on his shoulder, which he just looked at, and then at her. By now she should have been used to his gaze as he regularly fixed her with it, more so in the last few days, but it still caused her to shudder and she couldn’t break his gaze. They were still locked in each other’s eyes when Ric returned, breaking them apart after mere moments, though it felt much longer. Ric looked expectedly at Elena, hoping she had gotten more out of the student than he himself had.

‘I was just telling Damon that if he ever needs to talk I’m here.’ Ric nodded.

‘Definitely. As am I. Did he open up to you?’ Elena shook her head. Ric sighed. ‘This isn’t good, man.’ He took up his previous position on the desk in front of Damon. ‘Bottling things up is never good.’ Damon looked up.

‘I’m not. I’ve told both of you now, nothing is wrong. Now can I continue with the work Miss Gilbert’s set me, please? Needs to be done by tomorrow.’ Both teachers nodded and stood up, leaving him to work. Elena looked upon him sadly.

‘At least we tried.’ Ric stated.

‘Yeah, it’s just a shame we got nothing out of him.’ Ric nodded in agreement.

‘We’ll continue to watch both boys, but apart from that we can’t do anything. Especially if Damon says it’s nothing and he is practically 18.’ Elena still watched Damon sadly as he sat with his arms folded, having now finished his poster. Elena walked over to him.

‘You're finished?’

‘Would appear so.’ He continued to gaze ahead, ignoring her.

‘Damon, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about Friday. That I didn’t break you guys up sooner.’ She was speaking low so as not to alert Alaric to what had actually occurred the previous week. ‘And that I couldn’t help on Saturday.’ As she reached to take his poster from him, she softly but briefly gripped his hand in a comforting way, causing his head to jerk up and look at her. He simply nodded, before moving his hand away and continued with his blank staring. Elena sighed before turning back to Ric, shrugging.

‘I tried. Even apologizing for not helping on Saturday, nothing.’ Ric nodded.

‘It’s all we can do- try.’ And with that Elena left the classroom but not without a look at Damon first, who caught her eye and simply turned away. Part of her wished he’d wink at her like he’d done last week. Then she would know he was on his way to being mended. In that moment, he seemed so utterly broken.

 

* * *

 

By the time Miss Gilbert next saw Damon, he made sure to act like he was to be back to himself and it was only a day later. In actual fact, Damon was actually quite confused over everything that had happened. He was used to his father’s abuse, had been subject to it for nearly 10 years now. What he wasn’t used to was the concern he’d seen in his teacher’s eyes. She’d hesitated before she’d driven off, as if she had wanted to help; that or she thought he deserved it. He wouldn’t be too surprised if it was the latter. During detention as she’d tried to discuss the matter with him; he knew it was the former reason- she cared. However Damon didn’t want help. He didn’t want to even think about what had happened, let alone analyze it.

So he simply pretended everything was normal. In her lesson, he was the usual charming, cheeky yet intelligent student she was used to. At the prom committee he was happily flirting with Megan. It was as if nothing had ever happened. As if he hadn’t tried to seduce her. As if he hadn’t been abused by his father. Which was just the way he liked it. Her concern and apology had wrong-footed him, but now things were fairly normal. That was until she cornered him after the Prom Committee.

‘Damon, can I talk to you for a few minutes?’ A chorus of 'Ohhhh!'s and ‘What you done now, Salvatore?’s came from the students as they were leaving, but Damon just shrugged and walked towards his teacher with his usual swagger.

‘What can I say? Women just can’t resist me.’ He smirked and she simply rolled her eyes. He was grateful that she had waited till they were basically alone to approach the matter he was sure she was going to; he would loathe his peers knowing he had a troubled home life.

‘Actually, I wanted to know how you were.’

‘I am absolutely fine Miss Gilbert? And yourself?’ She raised an eyebrow.

‘Damon, you know what I mean.’

‘As do you. And as I said, I am perfectly fine, emphasis on the perfect.’ Miss Gilbert sighed clearly getting nowhere.

‘Ok, you can go. Remember both me and Mr Saltzman are here if you need us.’ He grinned at her.

 ‘Oh I will. Thanks.’ He suddenly leant forward and whispered so only she could hear, despite them being alone. ‘Didn’t know you actually cared, Elena.’ And with that he sauntered off, leaving a stunned teacher in his wake. Now he’d wrong-footed her, they were on equal footing, and all he’d said was her name.

 

 


End file.
